Animals respond to external stimuli based on instinct: they eat, fight, run, and procreate according to automatically triggered signal paths defined deep in their brains. Humans have instincts, too, but most of our "fight or flight" days are behind us. The daily tribulations we face are not so starkly defined as we decide where to concentrate our time and energy, what points of view to take, which professionals to listen to, and how to best set ourselves up for future success.

To handle these imprecise, no-right-answer situations we rely heavily on learned responses. Through millennia of social conditioning humans have developed rules for interaction that provide intellectual shortcuts to cut through the noise of modern life and guide our behavior in a myriad of situations. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini identifies the "six levers of influence" to which we all respond - knowingly or not - to keep our society functioning smoothly.

As a sales professional, working within the framework of the "six levers of influence" will make you more persuasive and improve the reception of your message. In this article, we'll review the "six levers" and brainstorm ideas for using them in a sales context.

FIGURE: Stages to a profitable, sales-enabling Business Value Advisory practice.

Software is an intangible product whose primary benefits are productivity gains for the users, groups, and companies that implement it. This great strength of technology is also a weakness, as it's tricky to define just where and when gains will occur.

For salespeople, it's challenging to build the business case for a software purchase that will impact several areas throughout the client's company, has many stakeholders with disparate agendas, and aims to facilitate a complex mix of visionary goals and operational returns.

To tackle this problem, many software companies develop strategic consulting practices that work with salespeople and clients to analyze strategy, assess operations, align technology, and measure the value of deploying software. This is a difficult endeavor that most companies never fully accomplish. For those that do, however, rewards include revenue growth, expanded total contract values, increased repeat sales, and expedited sales cycles.

Great athletes know they cannot perform at the highest level without great PRACTICE.

How DO they practice? Three components are always there:

1. They act as if they were competing against the best opponents.
2. They employ the best coaches to help them perfect every move.
3. They do it over and over again until they outperform everyone.

Here's what they DON'T DO:

• Learn in a "safe environment" without competition.
• Learn without feedback from the best experts they can find.
• Learn something once and consider the task complete.

Unfortunately, most sales training programs don't follow the athletes' model. Instead, they DO the DON'Ts.

That's why they produce underwhelming results against the unique challenges of B2B software sales.

Are you doing what is EASY or what WORKS?

Have you ever visited an art gallery? Did you ever talk to one of the salespeople... I mean docents?

I have. Know what I noticed? The gallery docent sells an abstract product, just like software sellers do.

If you are a B2B software seller who wants to live in a metro area with plentiful career prospects, high quality of life, AND the opportunity to save for financial independence, then Dallas, TX is the city for you.

Surprised? I was surprised, too. I once worked for a software company based in Dallas, but I never realized how important the area is for technology sellers.

I’ll explain how I came to this momentous discovery, but first let me share the revelation that compelled me to research America's best cities for software sellers.